Monster
by EyeofAmethyst07
Summary: Cresselia is one of the brightest Legendaries ever, but even the purest of beings has a dark side. Meanwhile, a mysterious band of people are grouping together in the hopes of world domination! Not the best summary, but give it a chance! First story form EyeofAmethyst07. ON TEMPORARY HIATUS. WILL BE FINISHED LATER.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Greetings earthlings! This is EyeofAmethyst07, ready to present his FIRST EVER STORY! (yay). If you haven't read my Bio, I highly suggest you do. I'm open to constructive criticism, but flames will not be accepted. Any and all flames will be tossed into my fire pit and used to make smore's.**

 **The italic paragraphs are lyrics from the song** _ **Monster**_ **by Imagine Dragons. I thought the lyrics reflected nicely on the story and decided to include them.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon franchise, nor do I own the lyrics used. I do, however, own the story idea.**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster: Chapter 1

 _Hall of Origin; Now_

Cresselia sighed to herself. _Do these meetings_ have _to drag on forever?_

Cresselia had spent the last hour of the legendary meeting trying to find the eyes of any other legendary to sympathize with the extreme problems of boredom. Arceus had a tendency to… monologue during the meetings. Sure, Cresselia knew they were essential to keeping the balance of the universe stable. But that didn't mean that one couldn't get bored after hearing a long drawn-out presentation on molecular physics and their impact on today's society.

The Psychic-Type scanned the faces of the assembled legendaries, looking for someone-anyone-to complain to. Rayquaza? No, she was too busy trying to keep Kyogre from slapping Groudon upside the head. One of the Regi's? They were actually paying attention to Arceus' lecture, no surprise there. Cresselia's carmine eyes finally locked with another pair of eyes; or rather, only one.

A certain Dark-type's ice blue eye locked onto Cresselia's, and said Dark type's eyebrow raised in amusement. Cresselia scowled. _Ok,_ she thought. _Almost anyone._

"Cresselia!"

The Psychic's head immediately snapped to the head of the table, where a certain Normal type was glaring at her. "Glad to see your ears are still working." growled Arceus. "I was worried we'd have to do something about it." Cresselia felt something in her chest, like a mutation. _What is that?_ she wondered. _It feels so weird…_

 _-Ever since I could remember, everything inside of me,_

 _Just wanted to fit in-_

"Sorry, my lady." Cresselia said. "I will dedicate more attention to your presentation." The Queen of Legendaries nodded. "Good. It's nice to see you're actually going to do something of worth for once." Any Legendary that wasn't paying attention was doing so now. Cresselia felt that strange feeling in her chest return, and it seemed to pulse like a second heart. "Come again?" she asked.

Arceus raised a white eyebrow. "What is your purpose here, Cresselia?"

"To cure Darkrai's nightmares."

"Exactly. How many of those have you cured recently?"

"Ten in the last two weeks."

Arceus shook her massive white head. "Just as I thought. You have yet to do anything of importance, Cresselia. Darkrai is fully aware of his powers, and he stays away from humans as a result." The odd feeling in her chest began to pulse stronger. "Your point, my lady?" asked Cresselia tightly. Arceus looked down on her creation. "My point, Cresselia, is that you are a worthless Legendary."

Absolute silence reigned over the table. Every legendary's head was now directed at Arceus, except for Darkrai's, who had his pointed at Cresselia. The Psychic type in question had her mouth agape, and the strange feeling's pulsing became even stronger.

A purple portal appeared next to the queen of Pokémon, and a massive grey dragon with wings of shadow emerged. He turned his golden-masked head towards Arceus. "I heard that insult all the way in the Distortion." said Giratina coldly. "That is going too far, my lady."

Arceus didn't even spare her counterpart a second's glance. "I decide what the boundaries are in this world, Giratina." she deadpanned. A shout came up from the back end of the table. "Why am I here, then?" Arceus rolled her emerald eyes. "Kyurem, your purpose is just as needless as Cresselia's. I would advise you to hold your tongue." Kyurem sat down slowly, and his two counterparts attempted to comfort him.

- _I was never one for pretenders; everything I tried to be,_

 _Just wouldn't settle in—_

The odd feeling pulsed once more, and Cresselia completely snapped. "What have _you_ done lately, huh?" she challenged. Arceus turned her head away from Giratina to glare at Cresselia. "Excuse me?" she growled. The queen's body began to glow, but Cresselia pushed forward regardless. _Why am I saying these things?_ she thought. _This isn't me…_

"All you've ever done is boss us around and attack us when we don't listen." Cresselia continued. "While we've been busy doing the work that _you_ created us for. What have you done in the last week? Or year? Or century?"

Arceus' emerald eyes darkened. "I will not stand for this insubordination." she said in an emotionless tone. "You, Cresselia, are hereby banished to your home, Full Moon Island, for the next decade." An uproar immediately sounded in the room, with every legendary from Shaymin to Giratina protesting against Arceus' rash decision. Arceus' body glowed brighter, and she stamped her paw on the white tile.

"SILENCE!"

And silence there was. Immediately.

Arceus took a deep breath. "I have sentenced Cresselia to banishment. The only legend who can vouch for her is her own counterpart. Every head swiveled towards the Pitch-Black Pokémon. "Darkrai." said Arceus formally. "Will you defend your counterpart?" Darkrai glanced at Cresselia, and in that moment of eye contact, the odd feeling in her chest dissipated. _He's going to stand up for me,_ thought Cresselia hopefully.

Darkrai returned his gaze to Arceus. "I will not object to the punishment given to my counterpart." he deadpanned. Another uproar ensued, and the legendaries that sat next to Darkrai, namely the Lake Trio, gave him wilting looks that he returned in a bored fashion. Giratina was now getting in Arceus' face, and although you couldn't hear the words thrown between the two gods, you could tell the situation had intensified by ten-fold. The odd pulsing returned to Cresselia suddenly, now much stronger. _Is this what Mespirit was warning me about?_ she thought. _Am I dangerous?_

Arceus silenced the hall with another stomp. "Cresselia's counterpart has spoken, and the punishment will be carried out accordingly." she said formally. "Cresselia is sentenced to ten years of banishment to Full Moon Island. Any legendary who visits her will have the same fate thrust upon them." Cresselia turned to glare at Darkrai, ready to cuss him out, but she stopped when she saw his expression. The Pitch-Black Pokémon almost looked wistful, like he believed he was doing the right thing, but it still hurt him. _What is it with that guy?_ she thought. _Why can't I ever get a good read on him?_

Cresselia's thoughts were interrupted by Arceus, whose body began to grow intensely. "Farewell, Cresselia." she deadpanned, like she'd said it hundreds of times. "May you be well enough to return in ten years." With those lifeless words, Cresselia was enveloped in white light, and she lost consciousness.

\\-/-\\-/

 _Castelia City; Now_

The man at the Casteliacone stand was getting annoyed. He absolutely hated his job of serving customers who insisted on making a line that never grew more than five people long. He hated how they walked up and demanded that he serve them ice cream, like it was his obligation to do so. Of course, he never wanted this job in the first place. He was sentenced to this mundane life of service after his—

The man shook his head. _That brat is the last thing I want to think of now,_ he thought. He snapped out of his thoughts when the next customer reached the counter. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the customer's strange apparel. This particular individual's blue hair was spiked up wildly, and his pant legs looked like accordions. The plain grey vest he was wearing had an oddly shaped 'G' on it. The man grumbled to the customer, "Welcome. What do you want?"

The customer smirked. "I want the same thing you want, Ghetsis." he said joyfully. The man behind the counter nearly chocked on his breath. "What?" he asked. The customer smiled. "I would like some world domination, along with some legendary Pokémon on the side. Can you manage that?" The cart man huffed. "You must have the wrong cart." he said stiffly. "We serve Ice cream here." The strangely dressed customer chuckled. "Not in the slightest." he said. "I wouldn't be so dismissive of yourself. Anyone who's managed to control Unova's three legendaries deserves another chance, in my opinion." The cart man froze. _How does this man of know me and my achievements?_ he thought. _He's not with the police, but he looks so familiar…_

"I like the sound of your order, sir." said Ghetsis with much more formality. "Could you perhaps describe it in greater detail?" The customer smirked again. "I knew you'd be interested. I am trying to group together the most ruthless, most powerful individuals in the known world together to accomplish our one goal: domination." Ghetsis smiled. "That sounds agreeable." he said. "I'm in." The customer smiled. "Follow me, if you please. Don't worry about your post, that's taken care of."

Ghetsis followed the strange man to a black SUV that was parked at the end of the street, right next to the Pokémon Center. As the man climbed into the back seat, Ghetsis stopped. "Wait." he said. "I need to know who you are before we get too ahead of ourselves."

The man in the car smiled. "Of course. My name is Cyrus, and I look forward to working with you, Ghetsis."

 **E/N: There we go! Chapter one is finished, and I'm already working on Chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed this preview, as this is only a small taste of what I can do.**

 **Read, Review, and Follow… AT YOUR OWN RISK. :) :) :)**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Hello again from EyeofAmethyst07! I noticed some people have already followed my story, and I thank you for that! But I would also like it if you could leave me a comment or some other form of constructive criticism. What am I doing wrong? How could I make the story better? Why did I make Ghetsis work at an Ice Cream stand? Please give me your feedback!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the song** _ **Monster**_ **by Imagine dragons. I do, however, own a watch.**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster Chapter 2

 _Full Moon Island: Now_

 _Stupid Normal-type!_

BOOM!

 _False God!_

BOOM!

 _What did I ever do to her?_

BOOM!

The third tree on Cresselia's island was instantly uprooted and soared into the sky, landing into the ocean with a distant _Splash!_ The Psychic legendary closed her eyes tight and sighed. Cresselia had woken up on her island ten minutes ago. She'd spent the last nine of them destroying her pristine home. Cresselia didn't know what was coming over her. The odd feeling she'd had at the meeting had returned with a vengeance, and it seemed to have an odd effect on her attacks. Her blasts of Psychic energy seemed to have greatly increased in power. However, her accuracy had completely gone out the metaphorical window.

Cresselia shook her crescent-like head slowly and felt the odd mutation pulse erratically in her chest. It seemed to be effecting her thoughts. Cresselia couldn't stop thinking about ways to get revenge on Arceus, or ways to get back at Darkrai for leaving her to rot.

Cresselia's eyes narrowed. _Darkrai._

The phantom-like Dark-type hadn't even pretended to think about the decision of saving her or not. He'd simply gone along with Arceus' ill-suited authority and let Cresselia suffer the consequences. _Another thing to add to my compounding list of things I hate about Darkrai._ Cresselia scrolled through her entries in her mind. _One: He doesn't know the meaning of the word "emotion"._ Darkrai was a severely introverted legendary, and no one could ever tell if what he said was deadpan or if he was being sincere. Which led to the thing that bugged Cresselia the most about her counterpart:

 _He's the most oblivious male to ever float the face of the Earth._

It was frustrating to say the least. Cresselia felt love for all of her fellow legendaries, but who was the subject of most of it? Of course, it had to be the one who would never notice it. Cresselia was about to continue down her list when she noticed something. The odd pulsating feeling was gone. She no longer felt the need for revenge against either Arceus or Darkrai. Cresselia turned towards the center of the island. _I have to check to make sure everything's still okay._

The deity of dreams dashed towards the center of her island, where a circular puddle lay. In the middle of the night, like it was now, the entire surface of the puddle would glow a bright silver, perfectly reflecting the moonlight. Cresselia sighed in relief when she arrived and saw the water aglow. But her relief was soon replaced by nervous curiosity.

A sliver of darkness covered the left edge of the water, no more than half a centimeter thick. It looked like a crescent made of pure shadow. _What is that?_ wondered Cresselia. _Is the water dirty?_

Suddenly, Cresselia felt the pulsing return, along with the dark thoughts she had before. Just as this happened, a voice behind her said "Cresselia?" The Psychic legendary felt rage build up in her, and as the pulsing grew stronger, she whirled around and discharged a massive blast of Psychic energy at the mystery speaker.

Unbeknownst to Cresselia or the other creature, the sliver of shadow on the puddle grew thicker.

/-\\-/-\

 _P2 Laboratory: Now_

"What are we doing here, Ghetsis? I thought you said you were bringing me to an army."

Ghetsis and Cyrus now stood on the small island on Route 17 that contained the small research outpost for Team Plasma. Ghetsis had convinced the Galactic leader to come to this location, as Team Galactic was low on members. The former Plasma leader simply gave an acknowledging smile. "My forces will be here shortly." he said simply. "Then we can discuss plans with this third party you mentioned."

"I'll have you gentlemen know: I am not third party to anything." Both Team leaders turned around to face the owner of the voice that had spoken. A middle aged man in a fine black suit of silk stood before them. His features were solid, as if they were etched in stone. A miniscule smirk was played across the man's lips, and he lowered a single hand down to pet the golden coat of the Persian that stood at his feet.

"Giovanni." said Cyrus formally. "So glad you could finally join us." The Rocket leader let out a single humorless chuckle. "I came when I realized the predicament you were in." he said. "I never knew you were this short on men." Ghetsis straightened indignantly. "My forces will arrive here shortly. You will see our ranks." Giovanni's micro-smirk widened slightly. "Your men?" he asked tauntingly. "I think that's a little much to call them men. All three of us know that the vast majority of your forces consist of creatures like _him."_

Giovanni pointed over to a scientist in the tall grass area of the island. The man in the white lab coat simply smiled, waved, and went back to staring off into empty space, occasionally turning 45 degrees suddenly. Cyrus chuckled lightly. "Are your forces any better, Giovanni?" The Rocket leader snapped his fingers. Behind him, three monstrous submarines rose from under the waves, each with a large "R" painted on their hull. Giovanni gestured proudly towards the machines. "Each of these contains thirty Rocket grunts, ready to obey orders with military perfection." boasted Giovanni. The rich man turned towards Ghetsis. "Are your forces that impressive?"

 _WHUMWHUMWHUMWHUMWHUM_

Ghetsis smiled. "I think they may be even more so." The three leaders watched as the Plasma Frigate descended from the sky, its black sails whipping fiercely in the wind. The massive airship set down in the water next to the island with a massive _SPLOOSH!_ and a thin grey gangplank extended from its side. Ghetsis turned triumphantly and walked towards the gangplank. "Come, my allies." he said. "Let us convene to discuss our strategies." As the three leaders boarded the vessel, a Plasma grunt came up to them, holding something. "Lord Ghetsis!" said the grunt, formally bowing. "Forgive us for our tardiness. We stopped by the Giant Chasm to bring you this." The grunt handed Ghetsis a long iron staff that had the Plasma insignia on its tip. "Excellent!" said Ghetsis as he wielded his cane. "Outstanding job. Pass my thanks onto our… pilot." The grunt bowed again. "Of course, my Lord." he said before heading towards the helm.

Ghetsis turned towards the other villainous leaders. "Welcome aboard the Plasma Frigate, gentlemen." he said formally. "Let's take a walk around, shall we?"

/-\\-/-\

 _Thump, thump, thump._

Arceus raised her head as she sat alone in the throne room. "Enter."

The double golden doors opened, and three small beings floated in. Arceus immediately recognized them as the Lake Trio, some of her first creations. "Welcome." she said evenly. Azelf simply glared at the being that was more than five times her height. "Why are you acting like an abusive-?" "What my companion means to ask," Uxie intervened quickly, before his counterpart could complete her analogy. "Is as to why you banished Cresselia over a simple matter of disobedience."

Arceus sighed inwardly. _Here it comes._ "I cannot stand any form of rebellion. No matter who it comes from."

"In that case," said a voice from behind her. "I should not be alive."

Arceus whirled around to find the Renegade Pokémon staring coolly at the Lake Trio. "Leave us." said Giratina stiffly. Uxie nodded and dragged Azelf with him before the Willpower Pokémon could protest. Mespirit lingered for a while longer making eye contact with the Distortion ruler that had suddenly appeared. The draconian legendary simply nodded, and the last of the Lake Trio glided through the doors of the great throne room closed with a heavy _THUMP._

Arceus turned to Giratina. "What is the meaning of this visit, Giratina?" she asked. Giratina shifted into his Origin Forme, and his golden face plate slid shut over the front of his grey face. "Why are you doing this?" he asked without any traces of emotion. Arceus sighed to herself. _That's it?_ she wondered disappointedly. _This again? Not for any other reason, maybe…?_ Giratina snorted, and Arceus got the feeling he'd known why she sighed. "Don't flatter yourself, Arceus." he deadpanned. "Affection is something that is alien to me, and if it were not, it would still be directed at no one."

The white legendary huffed at being discovered. "You misread my actions, Giratina." she replied stiffly. "What is your true purpose here?" Giratina allowed himself a smirk. "Why are you doing this to Cresselia? Every legendary from myself to Mew, for your sake, knows you had absolutely no reason to inflict punishment. You have let me get away with far worse."

Arceus winced. "I have no idea as to what you are accusing me of." The grey figure before her kept his composure cool. "What are you trying to do here?" he asked. "You're trying to manipulate something out of all this. What is it?"

"I do not know what you mean."

"I'm quite sure you do."

Arceus growled in frustration, "I digress." she said. "Two centuries ago, Mespirit asked for a private audience with me." Giratina's eyebrow raised in curiosity, and he reverted to his Altered Forme to make physically sitting down possible. "Go on."

"Apparently, Cresselia had come to her with some emotional problems that she wanted answers to." Arceus recalled. "Cresselia had reported feeling a strange pulsation in her chest that did not come from her heart. Whenever this pulsation occurred, Cresselia would feel violent and greedy. However, according to what Mespirit told me, the pulsation went away at the sight of a certain Pokémon." Giratina chuckled. "We both know that our culprit is Darkrai." Arceus allowed herself a smirk.

"Yes, that was Mespirit's guess as well, so she told Cresselia that it was a simple case of heartsickness and told her that it would be all right. A month later, Cresselia had returned to her former self." Giratina's brow furrowed in concentration. "But this was over two hundred years ago." he said. "What does this have to do with her banishment?"

"When she mouthed off to me at today's meeting, I could sense the pulsation return to her. So I sentenced her to banishment and casted a barrier around the island that prevented anyone from entering or leaving, except for two Pokémon." Giratina's brow straightened as he realized what she was implying. "Darkrai and Mespirit." he said. "The only two who can help her get better." Arceus nodded. "Correct." The white god turned towards the glassless window that graced the rear of the throne room. "This pulsation is dangerous, Giratina." she said while gazing out the hole in the marble wall. "If left untreated. it could completely consume the host."

Despite the gravity of Cresselia's emotional consumption, Giratina couldn't resist asking one final question. "What happens after the complete consumption?" Arceus didn't even turn to face her counterpart as she answered.

"The host becomes obsessed with their most basic, primal passions. It will use the host to seek out the source of the passions and consume them. Then, if one of the passions happened to be directed at another being" Arceus stopped to glance at Giratina. "The pulsation will begin searching for _that_ creature's passions. The cycle will continue until every living thing on this Earth is consumed completely, at which point the pulsation will see no further need in its own life. It will collapse in on itself and most likely destroy everything it has consumed."

Giratina was at a loss for words. "So Cresselia-."

"Yes." said Arceus. "Cresselia is becoming a monster."

 **E/N: So there's Chapter Two! Hope you're still interested in the story. (Crosses fingers) Please write a review to tell me how I'm doing!**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N-Hello again from EyeofAmethyst07! I've got some pretty good ideas on where the story should go, so I don't see why I should delay any longer! If you haven't read my newer story, Colligate Life, I suggest you do! But I've got some ideas for some other stories to, so we'll see where that goes.**

 **I also noticed no lyrics were used in Chapter Two! I plan to fix that…**

 **Reminder:** _ **-Italicized Paragraphs-**_ **are song lyrics.**

 **See Chapters 1-2 for disclaimers**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster: Chapter 3

 _Plasma Frigate: Somewhere over the ocean_

"I digress: apparently recruiting this many scientists _does_ have some use."

Ghetsis chuckled at Giovanni's comment as they crossed the hull of the massive warship. The Frigate had left Unova's Route 17 half an hour ago, and was now sailing towards the Team Galactic HQ, per Cyrus's request. Ghetsis had just concluded the tour of the Frigate, including Kyurem's imprisonment chamber. They were now making their way to their final stop: the helm.

Cyrus chuckled as well. "You should know this best of all of us, Giovanni." he said. "If it weren't for your small band of geniuses, you never would have created Mewtwo." Giovanni's miniscule smirk disappeared, immediately replaced by a scowl. "The Arceus-forsaken Pokémon was simply too strong." he said stiffly. Cyrus chuckled again, and this seemed to inflate Giovanni's anger. "What about yourself? From what I've heard, you had both creation deities at your fingertips, and you still managed to lose them." Cyrus became angry himself at this comment. "That was not due to incompetence." said the Galactic leader. "That cursed shadow legend Giratina interrupted my schemes. Had it not been for that demented basilisk I would be standing over a new universe."

The pneumatic doors that blocked the entrance of the helm slid open with a _hiss._ Ghetsis laughed as he led the way. "No need to get wrapped up in your fantasies, Cyrus." said the Plasma leader. "We have a new objective here: not just control." Cyrus crossed his arms. "And what more could we have than control?" Before Ghetsis could answer, a voice from deeper inside the room sounded.

"Creation, Mr. Cyrus. We will have the ability to create."

Every villain leader turned towards the center of the room, where a tall figure in a clean white lab coat stood with his back away from them. As the man turned around, the leaders could see that the man had thin glasses that gleamed wickedly, and his sharp eyes held each and every one of their gazes in an intelligent manner. The man was holding a tablet in one hand, and an odd blue crescent circled his neatly combed blond hair.

Colress stepped away from the steel and neon-blue captain's style wheel and approached the leaders. "If our plans are executed perfectly, then the universe will be devoid of rulers." said the scientist with a small smile. Cyrus raised an eyebrow, then extended a thin pale hand. "Mr. Colress, I assume?" Colress shook the other man's hand officially. "You assume correctly. It is a pleasure to finally meet another man with intellectual capabilities that are on-par with my own."

Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Quit mooning over each other." said the Rocket leader, annoyed. "What were you saying about creation?" Colress turned to face the slightly shorter man, his lab coat whipping behind him as he did. His thin glasses gleamed. "If my plan functions perfectly, we will remove the legendaries from their status as gods." While both Cyrus and Ghetsis nodded understandingly, Giovanni shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "So what?" he said. "If we defeat the legendaries, we won't just magically inherit their powers, will we?" Colress chuckled emotionlessly. "Actually," began the Plasma scientist. "That is exactly what will happen." Every leader looked at Colress, but none of them said anything.

"When the legendaries are removed, they will lose their power." said Colress. "But this power will not just disappear: it needs to go somewhere. My plan is to be in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. If my calculations add up correctly, we, and each of our Pokémon will inherit a certain legend's power." Cyrus' eyes narrowed and he frowned. "We do not have enough Pokémon between all of us to each have only a single power." said the Galactic leader suspiciously. "What will happen to the remainder of the powers?" Colress pushed his glasses s little farther up his nose and glanced at his tablet.

"According to my calculations, the remaining powers will simply return to the Earth." said the scientist simply. "We can't absorb more than one legend's power, so the leftovers will simply fade." Cyrus' look of suspicion never faded, but Ghetsis tapped his staff on the ground eagerly. "Where do we start, then?" he asked.

Colress turned towards a plasma (snicker) screen embedded in the side of the steel wall. It flickered to life, and on it were individual pictures of all the legendaries. The scientist gestured towards the screen. "If we are to get all the legendaries in one place, we must first have enough power to create a warning signal." Giovanni's eyebrow rose. "Why would we need that?" he asked. "Wouldn't it just be simpler to capture all of them?" Colress shook his head.

"No. If we start kidnapping them one at a time, the remaining legends will take notice and go into hiding. This will make it impossible for us to capture some legends. We need all of them to amass for this to work efficiently." Cyrus nodded. "The logic is sound." he declared. "Where will we get this power source?"

Colress rubbed his temples with his free hand. "That is the conundrum." he said. "The only way we will get enough power is if we harness a legend's abilities." Giovanni frowned. "Didn't you just finish saying that capturing one would send the rest into a panic?" Colress nodded, then gestured to the screen with the legendaries. "That is why I am showing you this. We must abduct a legendary that has substantial power, but it cannot be a primary deity, or else its absence will be noticed more quickly." Colress sighed tiredly. "It would also help if the legend was not constantly living with its counterparts."

Giovanni smirked. "Take one of the Lake Trio." he said smartly. Cyrus shook his head. "They are not nearly powerful enough for the task." said the Galactic leader. "I had all three, and they barely had enough power to summon _two_ legends. If we want all of them, we must choose a stronger one."

"Take one of the Swords of Justice." said Ghetsis. "They are fighting type legends and should suffice in power." Colress shook his head. "No, Ghetsis. They are too recognizable, being free spirits. The legends would certainly notice their absence."

Cyrus walked up to the screen and pointed at a certain legendary. "How about this one?" he asked. "Sufficient in power, but not a primary deity." Colress glanced at his tablet before raising his head with a smile. "Excellent choice, Mr. Cyrus." said the scientist. Colress walked up to the helm and tapped a few screens on the dashboard. "Our estimated time of arrival is five minutes, gentlemen." said Ghetsis. "Since this is too delicate of an operation, we cannot send our grunts. We must do this ourselves." As the three leaders left the helm room, Colress smiled to himself. _They all bought it, just as I hypothesized,_ he thought. _The fools will never know what hit them._

The Plasma Frigate sailed over the dark waters to Full Moon Island, the home of their target: Cresselia.

/-\\-/-\

 _Full Moon Island; Now_

"Whoa!" _BOOOOM!_

Cresselia's chest heaved angrily as she watched her blast of energy miss her target wide, exploding against yet another tree. The creature she had been attempting to hit remained frozen in place, with only its eyes moving from Cresselia, to the uprooted tree, and back again. Cresselia began to relax as she recognized who the floating being with twin tails was. "Mespirit." breathed Cresselia. "I thought you were someone else." Mespirit unfroze anxiously. "Yeah, I could tell." she said dully. Then the Emotion Pokémon glanced at Cresselia. "It's back, isn't it?"

 _-Can I clear my conscience, if I'm different from the rest?-_

 _-Do I have to run and hide?-_

Cresselia closed her eyes and turned her head away from her friend. "Yes." she said admittedly. "I don't know why. It just feels so _wrong…_ " Mespirit floated over gently to her friend and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "It's alright." she said. "Mespirit pulled away and gave her friend a small smile. "Just keep using that cure we talked about, huh?" Cresselia shook her pink head. "Even that's not working for long. I get maybe 30 seconds free, then it comes back." Mespirit chuckled humorlessly. "Maybe you should think about him all the time, then?"

Cresselia narrowed her red eyes. "Are those my only two options?" she scoffed. "Going crazy by either shooting everything I see or mooning over an oblivious condescending prick?" Mespirit laughed wanly. "I didn't exactly mean for you to take that seriously." she said. "And I thought you liked the guy. Since when does one call her crush a 'condescending prick'?"

Cresselia rolled her eyes. "I may like him, but that doesn't mean he can't be a gothic pain every once in a while." Suddenly, a voice behind them said;

"Now I'm curious."

Both Psychic legendaries turned to face the owner of the voice that had spoken. They were greeted with the sight of a small, smoky black body, with a jagged red protrusion coming from his neck. The Pokémon's single cyan eye gleamed mischievously. "Who can be a gothic pain every now and then?" asked Darkrai smugly.

Cresselia growled at her counterpart's presence; Mespirit, however, simply raised her eyebrow. "Darkrai." said the Being of Emotion. "How did you get past the Psychic barrier that surrounds the island?" Darkrai chuckled lightly. "I floated right through it. Almost like it wanted me to go through…"

Cresselia snarled, and she felt the pulsation start up softly in her chest. _I'm thinking about and even looking at the stupid Dark-type,_ she thought. _But it's still here._ "Get lost, Darkrai." snarled the giver of good dreams. "Nobody wants to see you." The shadowy Pokémon in front of her simply raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "I thought you liked _condescending pricks_ such as myself." Cresselia narrowed her eyes and began charging an attack at hearing her own words thrown back at her. She was about to release the attack when Darkrai's brow suddenly furrowed in what appeared to be concern.

The Dark-type pushed his way past Cresselia, and he pointed an ebony digit at Cresselia's moonlit puddle. "Explain the meaning of _that._ " he said. All three legendaries gazed at Cresselia's pool. When her eyes came to rest, they widened in shock. The thin sliver of darkness that had covered the edge of the pool had expanded to fill one-third of the pool, and snaky tendrils of shadow were slowly spreading across the still glowing portion of the pool.

- _I never said that I want this, this burden came to me,-_

 _-And it stayed its home inside-_

Darkrai frowned. "Is there a cloud?" he asked. Mespirit shook her tiny head. "No. There's nothing in the sky other than the moon."

Cresselia glanced up and saw that she was right. The only thing in the midnight sky was the glowing orb that was the full moon. "What's causing that shadow, then?" asked Darkrai again. "It's not me, is it?" Cresselia raised an eyebrow at her counterpart's odd behavior. _He didn't sound concerned just now, did he?_ she wondered. _He's never been concerned about anything, much less myself._ Then the Psychic legendary shook her head. _It's not me he's worried about: it's my puddle._ But she couldn't shake the feeling that Darkrai had some kind of ulterior motive.

Mespirit shook her head again. "No. The puddles on each of your islands reflects each of you respectively. If Cresselia's puddle is becoming tainted;" Mespirit paused to glance over at Cresselia. "Then it must mean that something is going wrong with Cresselia." Darkrai raised an eyebrow and glanced at his Psychic counterpart, arms crossed. "If that's the case, then something's been wrong with her for quite a while." Cresselia snarled, and the pink ring-like protrusions on her body glowed threateningly.

"I'm not the only one who has _issues,_ Darkrai." she said. Darkrai gave no facial response, but his next words were tainted with sarcasm. "Oh, I don't doubt that." he said. "But I also don't doubt the fact that-."

 _FWOOOOM!_

A ball of energy flew past all the legends, hitting a tree, sending yet another plant into the nearby ocean. Mespirit and Darkrai turned towards Cresselia. She huffed indignantly. "What?" she asked. "I didn't do anything!" Darkrai's single eyebrow raised in obvious skepticism. "Then who else could have-?"

 _FWOOOOM!_

Another ball of energy flew past Cresselia, but this time it hit something other than a tree: Darkrai. The barely-visible black orb of energy caught the nightmare legend straight in his chest, throwing him to the ground. The two remaining legends turned to face behind them.

Three Pokémon stood in their view, each of them growling threateningly. The first was a large purple Nidoking, larger than any other Cresselia had ever seen. The middle one was considerably shorter: a Weavile with the thick line of red hair on its head swaying slightly in the cool breeze. The third was perhaps the most intimidating of all; a particularly vicious-looking Hydreigon. The two heads on its arms snapped at the breeze like they were trying to taste the air, while its center head had its fangs bared.

Cresselia tilted her head in confusion. "Who are you?" she asked. "Why are you attacking us?" A voice spoke out, but it was not that of a Pokémon: this voice was human.

"Mespirit!" it called. "So good to see you again."

A figure stepped out from behind the Nidoking. He was wearing strange space-style clothing, and a large _G_ graced the front of his white vest. Mespirit, realizing who it was, screamed loudly before fainting on the spot, roughly landing on the ground.

As the human laughed, Darkrai immediately filled the space that Mespirit once occupied. Growling, with twin orbs of darkness in his clawed hands, Darkrai muttered the two words of the human language he knew:

" _Go-away."_ he said stiffly. The man simply laughed again. "Worry not, Darkrai!" he said. "We are not here for you: only for your companion here." The man extended his and all three Pokémon lunged forward. At the same time, Darkrai released both of the orbs of energy he'd been charging.

The first orb struck the Nidoking, who had barely taken its first step. The second struck the Weavile a split second later. Both Pokémon were surrounded by a dull purple sphere, and when it cleared, they had fallen to the ground, asleep.

The Hydreigon was left perfectly unscathed, and it quickly fired three colorful blasts of energy: One yellow, red, and blue, from each of its mouths. Cresselia was able to dodge the first red sphere, but the yellow one hit her square in her chest. The third blue orb spiraled towards Darkrai, who wasn't pushed back very far. However, the moment the orb made contact with the Dark-type's body, he froze solid, immediately encased in a thick sheet of ice.

The man smiled and held out his hand again, drawing the Hydreigon back to him. Suddenly, a spotlight shone brightly on Cresselia, blinding her. She warily hovered sideways, hitting something cold in the process. The Psychic's vision cleared just in time for her to see a thick net barreling towards her, and everything suddenly went black.

The last thing Cresselia remembered feeling was the pulsing in her chest returning with a vengeance, trying to tear its way out of her chest.

/-\\-/-\

 **E/N-Dun, dun, dun! Dramatic ending! I hope that this chapter made up for the wait time.**

… **I've got nothing else.**

 **Review, Favorite, and Follow… AT YOUR OWN RISK! :) :) :)**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N-Hello, from EyeofAmethyst07!**

 **Yes, ladies and gentlemen I am still here! School combined with a vicious case of writer's block prevented any progress this story…**

 **But never fear! I was able to push out another chapter here, so I hope you enjoy it…**

 **And remember!** _ **–Italicized Paragraphs-**_ **are lyrics.**

 **All disclaimers are in Chapter 1** __

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster: Chapter 4

 _Hall of Origin: Now_

"Order! Order!"

Arceus was uselessly trying to calm down the panicking legends that had amassed in the Hall of Origin. Mespirit had returned from her (illegal) visit to Full Moon Island ten minutes ago, interrupting the current meeting and claiming that Darkrai and Cresselia had both been kidnapped by a group of human terrorists. The Hall had turned into a frenzy immediately, a frenzy that had been going on for several minutes. "ORDER!" tried Arceus again. The legends paid their leader no heed.

Arceus felt something shove her to the side. She looked over and was greeted by the massive sight of Giratina. "Let me show you how it's done." he said evenly. The Distortion King took a breath before speaking in a plain, normal, monotone voice. "If every one of you doesn't shut up now, I will personally dismember every legend in this Hall."

The loud chatter stopped immediately, and every legendary turned their head to the throne, where Giratina stood smugly by Arceus. Giratina formally slid to the side as the legends returned to their seats. "You have the floor, my lady." he said smugly. Arceus huffed before clearing her throat and addressing her subjects.

"I understand that this is a rather severe predicament we find ourselves in." she said. "But we must remain calm if we are to survive." Uneasy murmurs spread across the table, and they continued until Giratina spread his shadowy wings beside her. The talking stopped soon after.

"Mespirit tells us that a group of human villains have abducted Cresselia and Darkrai." continued Arceus. "I can see only one option. We as a group must go into hiding, as to avoid our capture." Murmurs filled the Hall again, but they stopped as Giratina cleared his throat.

"I advise you all to start making yourselves useful." said the Renegade Pokémon evenly. "Start listing off places we could go hiding. It must be isolated, and preferably hidden from plain view." Arceus looked over at her Ghost-type counterpart. _They all listen to him,_ she thought. _Why isn't he the leader?_ She ended up answering her own question. _Because he tried to lead a rebellion against you and you banished him to the Distortion._ Meanwhile, scattered voices called out locations.

"Alto Mare!"

"Spear Pillar!"

"The Bell Tower!"

Giratina shook his head as the legendaries continued to shout out the locations of their dwellings. Leaning over to Arceus, he said; "It can't be one of our homes. The humans know those places to well." Arceus leaned over to meet the Distortion ruler's hushed tone. "Can we not escape into the Distortion?" she asked. Giratina chuckled at this. "Half of us would be insane within the week if we did that." he said. "The Distortion is only for those who have great mental strength, and that is something the majority of the council lacks." Arceus was about to comment when she heard one voice rise above all others in the Hall.

"Victory Road."

The calling-out stopped immediately, and every head turned to the far end of the table. Reshiram stood up to face her fellow legends while her counterparts, Zekrom and Kyurem, desperately were trying to sit her down again. Giratina raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Reshiram shook off her counterparts' arms and spoke loud enough for every legend to hear. "We need to hide in Unova's Victory Road." she said strongly. Arceus stepped in this time. "That is not a good idea, Reshiram. The humans know that place too well." The legend of Truth shook her white head. "They don't know all of it." she said. At this, Zekrom stood up and got into Reshiram's face. The two had an intense, low-voiced debate that Arceus could not hear. The amassed legends watched as Reshiram gently laid one of her winged talons on her counterpart's shoulder and spoke to him softly. Reluctantly, Zekrom sat down and glanced at his counterpart once more, as if asking for reassurance. Reshiram simply nodded.

The Truth legendary faced Arceus again. "There is one area of the trail that remains undiscovered by humans, save one man." she said. "I believe this is the best location for us to hide." Arceus still did not understand what Reshiram was talking about, but Giratina raised an eyebrow. "You honestly want to go back there?" he asked. "Back after everything that happened?"

Reshiram's cyan eyes reflected determination, but Arceus thought she saw something else in there too; wistfulness. "My counterparts and I have discussed it. We will be fine, but we must move immediately." Kyurem muttered something under his icy breath, and Reshiram smacked him lightly upside the head with one of her wings. Arceus then remembered something Reshiram had said earlier. "What about this one man?" she asked. "Is he trustworthy?"

Reshiram nodded. "He is." Zekrom began to stand, but Reshiram looked her counterpart in the eye. Arceus had learned to read eye expressions well, after so many millennia of living with Giratina. She was certain Reshiram was silently saying _Trust me. Please._ Wordlessly, Zekrom sat down. "But we must arrive there by today."

"Why?" asked Arceus.

"Because today is the human calendar day of Friday." replied the dual-type legend. "He will be at Nimbasa City's Ferris wheel."

Arceus was still confused by Reshiram's words, but Giratina stepped in once again. "I agree with Reshiram." he said to the council. "I move that we go into hiding in Unova's Victory Road. Second?"

"I second."

"Third."

"Fourth, reluctantly."

"Fifth."

Giratina turned to Arceus. "What say you, my lady?" Arceus sighed to herself and slumped against the rear of her throne. "Motion carried. We will leave for Victory Road at once."

As the amassed legends rose from their seats, Arceus noticed Zekrom once again talking to his counterpart. Reshiram simply turned around and stalked out of the Hall.

Giratina leaned over to whisper in Arceus' ear. "Wondering why she's acting up?" he asked. Arceus gave him a half-hearted glare. "I don't need you to tell me how my subjects are doing." she said tiredly. Giratina chuckled, and even though Arceus couldn't see her counterpart's face, she could imagine him smirking.

"All evidence points to the contrary." he said. "Reshiram and Zekrom have had bad experiences on Victory Road. It involved both of them being captured by trainers and being forced to fight one another."

Arceus froze. "I take it this occurred two years ago?"

Giratina nodded. "If you're referring to the period of time when they were joined at the hip, then you're right." he said. "The experience at Victory Road changed them both… I honestly believe that Zekrom almost killing Reshiram made them realize how important they are to each other."

Arceus came to realize something. "Where does that leave Kyurem?"

"Kyurem had his own adventure where he was forced to fuse with Reshiram." explained Giratina. "It's another long story in and of itself, but my point is, those three have gone through something so horrible together that they have become even closer to one another than Latios is to Latias. I think we can trust them."

Arceus rose from her seat and followed the legends as they followed Reshiram out of the Hall. "Thank you, Giratina." she said. "I appreciate your counsel."

As the Queen of the Legendaries floated towards the door, she swore she heard Giratina chuckle.

/-\\-/-\

 _Plasma Frigate Brig: Now_

"And she's alive. What a shame."

Cresselia opened her carmine eyes and glared at the owner of the voice. "Shut up, Darkrai."

Darkrai floated backwards with his hands in a placating gesture. "I would take a look around before you start trying to bite my head off." Cresselia growled, but she did as her lunar counterpart asked. As soon as she did, however, she wished she hadn't.

She realized several things at once. For one, she and Darkrai were in a small glass prison of sorts, and it overlooked some sort of engine room. Through the partition, Cresselia could see human men and women in sleek black uniforms passing back and forth.

Darkrai scoffed. "Stuck sightseeing?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Cresselia growled, and she felt the pulsation return to her chest, filling her head with thoughts of violence. The Psychic legend lunged to grapple her counterpart, but-

 _Clank!_

Cresselia growled and looked at her oval paws, only to see that they were shackled to the ground by heavy chains. Looking over her shoulder, she also realized that two of the ring protrusions on her back were also chained to the wall.

Darkrai smirked, and Cresselia felt the pulsing intensify. _I want to bite that snarky look off his face._ "Chained to the wall." he said. "Did I forget to mention that?" Cresselia growled again, and she pulled against the chains, straining to claw the smug face of her lunar counterpart.

Darkrai smirked, and floated so his face was inches from her claws. "What's the matter?" he asked with false sympathy. "Arms too short?" Cresselia lunged forward one more time, and she felt her claws gently scrape Darkrai's face. A small surge of victory canceled out the pulsing before it returned full force. _I guess that counts,_ she thought. _I'll take anything I can get at this point._

Darkrai however, floated backwards unsteadily, with a look of shock on his face. He raised an ebony claw to his face and Cresselia couldn't help but smirk victoriously. "Aw, did the big bad nightmare get his ego deflated?" she asked, mocking his tone of falseness.

Darkrai's countenance worsened slightly, hints of his normal pessimistic self showing through the shock. He clenched his claws and bought it down from his face.

"At least I'm not chained to the wall like an animal." he shot back. Cresselia narrowed her eyes at the nightmare legend. _What's with the shaky tone?_ she wondered. _What the heck happened to the actual Darkrai?_

"Why aren't _you_ chained to the wall too?" asked Cresselia. Darkrai raised an eyebrow. "Maybe because I'm less psychotic?" Cresselia snarled once again, the pulsing returning to her chest. "Can you be any more of a condescending ass?" she asked.

Darkrai smirked and patted Cresselia on the head like she was a cute little puppy. The Psychic legend snapped her beak at him, barely missing his ebony digits. The Dark-type retracted his claws with a chuckle. "Yes." he answered. Cresselia snarled again, and she continually tried to snap at her counterpart as he persistently poked and prodded her.

/-\\-/-\

 _Plasma Frigate: Ghetsis' Office: Now_

Cyrus narrowed his eyes as he watched the security footage from Kyurem's old cell. He watched as Cresselia attempted to claw at Darkrai, who backed away slowly. The Galactic leader rewound the tape a few seconds, trying to make out something.

Ghetsis walked into the room. "Finding the prisoners interesting?" asked the leader casually. Cyrus turned to glance at Ghetsis before turning to the screen again. "Yes." he said, gesturing for the team leader to come closer. Cyrus pointed at Darkrai. "Look at its face. Exactly at the moment Cresselia tries to swipe at it."

Both men watched as Cresselia made a futile attempt to claw her counterpart. As Darkrai recoiled, Cyrus froze the tape. "Look at its expression and tell me it doesn't look shocked." Ghetsis glanced at screen, lowering his red eyepiece slightly to see the screen better. Then he straightened, and tapped his staff on the ground. "I suppose one could call it that." he said emotionlessly. "Your point?"

Cyrus steepled his thin fingers. "I think these Legendaries might be less like animals than we thought." he said. "If my hunch is correct, it could make capture of the other legends easier. We can emotionally manipulate them into a trap." Ghetsis shook his head slowly. "Colress conducted an experiment some years ago on Pokémon anthropomorphism, but the data revealed that they only _look_ human. Their neurological readings, however, did not match their expression. Pokémon are not anthropomorphic, Cyrus."

Cyrus returned his attention to the screen and waved the Plasma Leader off. "Fine, then. On your way." Ghetsis shook his head again, chuckling, and walked away.

Cyrus leaned forward and hummed thoughtfully. _This is certainly an interesting development. This could enable me to take these legends for myself._ Cyrus scanned the room, making sure he was alone, then pulled out a sleek black cellphone. "Mars? Come in, Mars."

" _Yes?"_

"We might be able to pull this off. Gather whoever you can and start tailing the ship. I'll send you our coordinates."

" _Ok. Something come up, boss?"_

Cyrus grinned as he watched the frozen pixelated face of Darkrai. "Yes." he said. "And it is invaluable."

/-\\-/-\

 _Unova Victory Road Summit: Now_

Arceus was seriously re-considering the effectiveness of Reshiram's plan. Sure, she trusted the Being of Truth and her proposed hiding place. She also trusted that Giratina had not been wrong when he'd told her that Kyurem and Zekrom had as much merit as Reshiram.

But forty oddly-dressed, humanly disguised legendaries was _bound_ to attract attention.

Reshiram lead the way through the trail's dark and musky caverns. Not surprisingly, they encountered on wild Pokémon. Even in their human forms, the legends probably still radiated an intense aura of power. Reshiram finally led them around a bend, where they walked out into the bright sunlight. They continued forward until a human dressed in a black trench coat and a brown-striped hat stopped them.

"Hey!" he said. "I'll need to battle you before you can go on." Reshiram turned towards the man, and her eyes glowed bright blue. The red detailing on her jacket and hair brightened as well. "Son," she said. "Just don't." The man backed up to his place against the wall uneasily, letting the legends pass. Arceus couldn't resist chuckling at the man's stupefied expression as he watched each human-legendary file out of the tunnel.

Reshiram led them down a flight of stairs, deterring two other human trainers in the process. She then cut into a narrow stairway that cut into the center of the mountain. After a short while, they entered yet another cave. As they continued to follow Reshiram, Arceus heard some of the more immature legends beginning to get bored, and they started to play small pranks on their companions, tripping them up from behind and reaching around to tap a shoulder so they looked the wrong way.

Needless to say, their antics stopped when they got to Giratina.

Eventually, Reshiram lead them out to a small ledge, then back into another cave. As the dark cavern opened up around them, Arceus gasped; nor was she the only legend to do so.

The cavern the entered was enormous: probably big enough to fit a small town in. That was not what caught the legend's attention, however. Dead center of the cavern, a crippled building sat, obviously damaged after years of harm. The building took up most of the cavern's space, and Arceus could make out blue carpeting from some of the broken windows. A single grey catwalk connected the dirt platform they were on now to the partially buried building.

"What is this place?" Arceus hear someone behind her mutter. Reshiram turned around at the top of the catwalk, with both Zekrom and Kyurem flanking her. "This place was the site a great battle, tragedy, and perhaps the most selfless Pokémon release in human history." said Reshiram. "It has been buried underground for the past two and a half years, gathering dust and breaking down in places, but it will suffice for a hideout.

Reshiram sighed, then turned to face the building, spreading her arms wide. "Fellow Legendaries:" said Reshiram.

"I welcome you to N's Castle."

/-\\-/-\

 **E/N- OOHHHH YEEEAAAH! The legends will hide in the old Plasma fortress! By the way, for those of you who haven't played BW2, (SPOILER!)-N's Castle can be re-discovered! I won't tell you how to do it, 'cause you can just look it up. But I LOVED the Castle when I played the original game, and seeing it come back in the second was very satisfying.**

 **Also, I am SO SORRY that I couldn't update any sooner. I didn't want to rush the story, and school was a menace!**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review… AT YOUR OWN RISK :) :) :)**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N-Yeah, hi. It's me.**

 **I know a one month wait time probably isn't desirable for many of you, and I truly apologize for that. But, if you read my bio, you know two things:**

 **One; I predicted this was going to happen.**

 **Two; I took an oath to finish any story I started, and I intend to make good on that oath.**

 **Now, as far as the story goes…**

 **This chapter will mostly be fluff. This is my first full-blown attempt at a mushy chapter, so please leave any form of advice you may have as a review!**

 _ **-Italicized Paragraphs-**_ **are lyrics.** __

 **All disclaimers are in Chapter 1** __

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster: Chapter 5

 _Plasma Frigate, outside Kyurem's prison: Now_

"When are you two going to get somewhere with this operation?"

Colress glanced up to respond to Giovanni as Cyrus kept typing away at a computer console. "We have been making significant progress." said Colress evenly. "You cannot expect us to succeed in creating a beacon powered by a legendary in two days. This will require time to be effective." Giovanni crossed his arms across his built chest. "I'm tired of waiting around." he said. "There's absolutely nothing to do around here." Cyrus chuckled without looking up. "We would ask you to help, but all of us know how helpful you will be in matters dealing with intellect."

Giovanni growled. "I am quite the effective strategist." he said as the scientists chuckled between themselves. "Would you like an example?" Cyrus chuckled and spun around in the swivel chair he sat in to face the Rocket leader. "I suppose I would like something to laugh at." he said smugly, egging the leader on. Giovanni scowled, then brought his wrist communicator to his face. "Now." was all he said.

Nothing happened for a moment. Cyrus laughed. "Giovanni, why do you insist on humiliating yourself? Could you not just-?"

 _BOOOM!_

The entire Frigate trembled as something impacted its steel hull. Sirens began to go off, and all rooms and hallways were smothered in red emergency lights. Both scientists looked at Giovanni. "What have you done, Giovanni?" asked Colress, sounding more tired than worried. Giovanni smirked, and he grabbed a black Luxury Ball from his belt. "I'm taking over the operation." he said smugly. "This is taking too long, and I am the only one who has the ambition to go alone instead of… _cooperating."_ He spat the word out like it tasted foul. "So I ordered my subs to fire on your flying ship here. You won't get it in the air before I blow it to bits."

Cyrus immediately flipped something out of his back pocket; it looked like a black cellphone. Giovanni felt his confidence waver somewhat. _What is he doing?_

"Mars?" Cyrus called into the phone's speaker. "Attack the subs. We're moving out." Giovanni felt a stone settle in his stomach. As he heard four faint _boom's_ out in the distance, he realized he may have just gotten all his men killed. Cyrus smirked at the Rocket leader. "You're not the only one who was planning something." he said. "I've got some new data coming through, and I think I can carry the operation on from here." Colress tapped at his tablet carelessly. "Ghetsis told me about your interest in anthropomorphism." he said smoothly. "Your theory is flawed." Was it Giovanni's imagination or did the Darkrai on the other side of the six-inch glass smirk at these words?

Cyrus laughed and pulled out a red Pokéball. Tossing it onto the ground, his Weavile appeared in a flash of white light. "I'll be taking the legends now, Colress." he said nonchalantly, as if he were wielding a gun. "If you would kindly type the access code." Colress tapped his tablet a few more times, but instead of opening the prison, a flash of white signified another Pokémon's appearance. A Klingklang, its multiple rings spinning rapidly, sprung up next to its master. "That will not be happening any time soon, Cyrus." said Colress without looking up from his tablet.

The Galactic leader scowled before turning to his Weavile. "Weavile, I want you to-."

"Use Hyper Beam!"

A beam of condensed orange energy surged out of nowhere, nailing the Dark and Ice-type that stood next to Cyrus in the chest. The Pokémon, caught off guard, fainted instantly. All three men turned to the source of the blast.

A Plasma officer in the updated black apparel dashed forward, followed by a lithe Liepard. The officer's orange hair curled slightly, and her sharp blue eyes scanned each of the men's faces. "You called, Colress?" she asked in a voice that sounded used to both giving orders and following them. Colress looked back down at the tablet that forever remained in his hands. "Thank you for your assistance, Aldith." said the scientist evenly. "Take these two men to the brig, will you?" As Aldith nodded and motioned to her Liepard, Giovanni laughed, wielding the Luxury Ball he had yet to throw. "And if I don't feel like going quietly?"

"That would be poor for your health."

Giovanni knew who it was before he even turned around. Once he did, he was greeted with the sight of green/black robes, a red eyepiece, and a silver staff. Beside this figure floated a Hydreigon, its three heads snapping at the air. "Help Aldith, Colress." said Ghetsis calmly. "I will guard the legendaries." Colress shook his head, still tapping at his tablet. "You go, Ghetsis." said the Plasma scientist. "I still need to run a few more crucial tests. Besides, your Hydreigon makes a much better escort than my Klingklang." The Dark-type snarled as if to prove the point. Ghetsis motioned to Aldith, then nodded his head. "Very well." he said. "Let us take these traitors to the brig."

As the two leaders were pushed away, Cyrus left a parting comment. "You won't succeed." he said to Colress, resisting against Aldith's attempts to pull him with her. "Not without me." Colress waved him off, finally sparing a glance away from his electronic. "I doubt that highly, Cyrus." he said. "Your theories are of no use to Team Plasma." Cyrus smirked as Aldith pushed him towards the door, getting impatient. "And if at one point it does?" he asked.

Colress smiled down at his tablet. He kept silent until the moment where the new-found prisoners were pushed through the doorway, as to ensure his having the last word. "Then I'll know right where to find you."

/-\\-/-\

 _Plasma Frigate, inside Kyurem's prison: At the same moment_

"Hm." said Darkrai as two men were escorted from the room outside the cell. "I was wondering how long that was going to take."

Cresselia didn't even turn acknowledge her counterpart's existence; she kept her head turned away. She had had enough of Darkrai's antics; his smug expression, his prodding taunts.

His complete and utter obliviousness.

Mespirit's cure was no longer working. No matter how much Cresselia turned her thoughts to the Dark-type phantom (it happened _a lot._ ), the pulsation in her chest never lessened: it only worsened. Now, though, the pulsing was no longer painful. Instead it made her feel… empty, in a sense. She felt herself not caring for anything anymore. Nothing seemed to matter. She didn't even feel the need to escape the Frigate anymore. What was the point?

Cresselia shook her head hard. _I've got to snap out of it. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can beat it. I have to._

"No response? That's cold, Cress."

Cresselia growled, the pulsing in her chest boosting the noise. Darkrai turned away from the glass, his ebony hands held up in mock surrender. "Hey, what did I do?" he asked with false innocence. Cresselia turned her head away from her counterpart. _More than you know,_ she thought. _More than you know._ "Just shut up." she said tightly.

Darkrai sighed, dragging his claws down the front of his face. Then he glanced up at her with his single eye. "You got to talk to me, Cress." he said, his voice no longer taunting or smug. He sounded genuinely honest. Well, as honest as you could get with Darkrai, anyways. "I don't know what to stop doing if you don't tell me."

 _-If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?-_

Cresselia turned her head and spread her stout claws as wide as the chains that bound her permitted them to. "I can't tell you this, Darkrai." she said. "It's too complicated."

"We've got plenty of time." Darkrai observed with a chuckle. "I think we could spare a few minutes."

Cresselia wrung her claws together, wondering exactly how far she should go with this 'confession'. _I need to tell him about the pulse,_ she thought. _But I can't tell him the rest. Not yet._ Cresselia inwardly groaned. This was the train of thought that had tormented her through the countless millennia she had been alive. It was always, 'Don't do it. What if he rejects you?'.

An expected fear for anyone in her position.

Cresselia had seen countless humans with the same dilemma over the millennia. They would be afraid, too. Eventually, though, they would reason with themselves; they only had a finite time to act. It was either do or die, quite literally. Cresselia didn't have that luxury. If she was rejected, there would be no redemption. She would have to live with the humiliating consequences for the remainder of her life.

Her _immortal_ life.

So fear continued to rule her life. Every day that passed, every year that wasted away, Cresselia only felt more and more hopeless. She felt herself eroding from the inside out.

Then came the pulsations.

They were considerably weak at first. Just a small irregularity, subtle enough to be dismissed as harmless. But the pulsing began to change Cresselia's mind, too. She was doing things she'd never done before. At one legendary meeting, she'd stood up to Rayquaza, and was two seconds from tying his tail in a psychic knot before Latias calmed them both down. The pulsing gave her a kind of reckless confidence that made her believe she could do anything.

So when her confidence tried to convince her to confess, needless to say, she panicked.

She ended up flying over to Newmoon and slapping Darkrai in the face.

Now fully mortified, she went to Mespirit for help. The Emotion deity had put a single paw on her shoulder, and her face immediately fell. Mespirit then proceeded to be her de-facto psychologist, asking her questions about what had been happening lately and how she felt about it. It was kind of humiliating at times, but it helped. Within a few days of 'therapy', the pulsations receded.

And her life returned to the swirling cauldron of misery that it had been before.

"Cress?"

Cresselia snapped her head up to gaze at Darkrai, who was leaning back against the far wall of the cell in an apparently careless fashion. "Are you going to tell me anything?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as if ready to listen.

 _-And if I seemed dangerous, would you be scared?-_

Cresselia had one more internal struggle as to what she should say. She eventually turned her head away from the phantom that had so set her life off balance, without even knowing it. "No." she mumbled. "Leave me alone."

The dream legend glanced at her counterpart for a reaction. He opened his mouth as if to snip at her but instead, he simply began to float forward. "You've got to tell someone." he said. Cresselia turned her head to watch her counterpart suspiciously. He almost sounded concerned, but, this was _Darkrai._ The cold, ruthless nightmare of legend.

The oblivious object of a dream legend's affection.

So Cresselia dismissed the idea of Darkrai being sentimental.

The phantom in question was still nearing her cautiously, as if afraid she would lash out at him. "Cresselia, you've got to tell me what the heck's going on with you." he said in a soft tone, unusual for the stoic Darkrai. "Counterparts have to trust each other at some point, right?" Cresselia only turned her head further away, despite the chains digging at her, despite every neuron in her head that told her to turn around and tell him. Despite the pulsation that ripped at her chest.

 _-I get the feeling just because, everything I touch isn't dark enough,-_

Darkrai floated forward, and she felt the light gust of wind that signified his stopping right behind her. She suddenly felt a smooth claw on her shoulder, and she tensed every muscle in her body. A warmth seemed to radiate from Darkrai's claw, and this warmth flowed throughout her body. Cresselia felt herself relax, and she felt the claw pull at her gently, trying to turn her around. She gave no resistance and turned to face her counterpart.

 _-That this problem lies in me….-_

All traces of contempt, negativity, and aura of wrongness that seemed to radiate from Darkrai were gone. A small, knowing smile wove itself on his face. "There we are." he said, evidently satisfied. He moved as if to retreat to the wall, but Cresselia grabbed his arm. "No." she blurted. "Don't." Darkrai raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't what?" he asked. "You still haven't told me anything." Cresselia tightened her grip on his ebony forearm, and she felt the millennia of resistance that she'd built up dissolving. "Don't-." Cresselia tried to close her mouth, but her mind no longer had control over her body. "Don't leave."

Darkrai pointed with his free claw at the wall. "I can't leave." he said. "I'm trapped in here, same as you." He tried to move away again, but she tightened her grip on his black forearm. "Don't." she repeated weakly.

Darkrai sighed and lowered himself so he hovered at eye level with his counterpart. Cresselia kept her grip on his arm. Darkrai shook his captured limb weakly, like he was seeing if it was alive or not. Then he turned his gaze on Cresselia, confusion and amusement ruling his expression.

"Seriously, Cress." he said. "What's going on?" Cresselia felt her face flush slightly, and she hoped that it was hidden under her pink fur. "Nothing." she said softly, still not letting go of her counterpart's arm.

Darkrai scoffed. "Right." he said in obvious disbelief. "When I first ask you, and you tell me to buzz off, I think, 'Ok, she's just in another one of her moods.'." Cresselia glanced up at him tiredly.

"But when I ask you again?" he continued. "When I come over to you? All of the sudden you grab onto my arm and won't let go! Seriously, Cress, you've got to tell me what's going on with you."

Something clicked in the Psychic's head at that moment, and she glanced up at Darkrai quizzically. "Why do want to know?" she asked. Darkrai raised an eyebrow, and gestured for her to elaborate. "Why are you so suddenly concerned over my health?" she asked again. "You've never been this concerned over… well, _anything,_ except Alamos. What changed?"

Darkrai chuckled and glanced at the claw that wasn't still her captive. "We got kidnapped and shoved into ice-block's old cell." Cresselia felt the beginnings of a smile creep onto her face. "Don't you mean _Kyurem?_ " she asked lightly. Darkrai shook his head with a soft laugh. "No, I mean ice-block." he confirmed. "You've seen what the overgrow lizard has done before, right?"

Cresselia heard a little noise skip out from the lump that had formed in her throat; it sounded like a giggle. But that wasn't right. She _never_ giggled. It was beneath mature legends to do that. "Yeah." Cresselia said aloud finally. "Didn't he yell at the sun for a few minutes because it was too hot?"

Darkrai laughed. The sound was clean and pure, and hearing it warmed Cresselia somewhat. "Yes, I remember that." Then the Dark-type scoffed. "The Boundary Pokémon? Try the Boundary of Intelligence." Cresselia heard the same noise as before push its way out of her throat. _Another one?_ she thought to herself. _I'm definitely losing it._ The two sleep legends remained silent for a while, perfectly content in laying against each other.

 _Wait._

Cresselia's brow furrowed in confusion. Then she looked over at Darkrai and noticed he was no longer in front of her. _He must have moved while we were talking,_ she realized. _He probably didn't even notice it._

Then she noticed _where_ exactly Darkrai had moved.

Her phantom counterpart had moved to Cresselia's left side, and she was suddenly very conscious of how she was leaning up against his ebony body. She was even more aware of the fact that she hadn't let go of his arm, and as a result, it lay draped across her shoulders.

Cresselia realized how screwed she was. This was the perfect way for Darkrai to finally put two and two together and figure out _why_ she was acting so strangely. If she wanted to (hopefully) leave the cell with any dignity, then she needed to slip out from under Darkrai immediately.

But, at the same time…

Cresselia didn't want to move away. Now, laying against her counterpart, she felt… at peace. A calming warmth flowed over her, relaxing not only her body, but her mind as well. The pulsing no longer controlled her thoughts, no longer making her tense and irate. Cresselia sighed, closing her eyes, and she leaned into Darkrai's chest. "Thanks, Rai." she said softly, bringing one of her paws around his thin chest, hugging him lightly. "I love you."

Cresselia snapped her eyes open as she replayed what had just happened.

 _Oh, Arceus._

Cresselia expected Darkrai to react. Maybe stutter and ask her to repeat herself? Maybe push her away in disgust? She braced herself for all of the terrible things that could happen, waiting for Darkrai to snap at her, to yell, to get angry. How much damage had she just caused?

But it never happened.

Cresselia glanced up nervously at her counterpart's face, worried by what she might find. Perhaps anger? Disgust? Horror? Confusion? Cresselia raised her head, and it looked like he was…

Asleep.

The dream legend let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. _He didn't even hear it,_ she thought with immense amounts of relief. _I'm good._ Cresselia sighed contentedly, and she felt Darkrai's grip subconsciously tighten on her shoulder, as if determined to not let go. Cresselia closed her crimson eyes peacefully as she laid her head against Darkrai's chest. _I don't want to let go either._

Outside the cell, Colress watched in fascination. He stared at the two legendaries for a few minutes, then tapped at his tablet a few times, bringing up a communications app. "Aldtih?" he said. "Could you please release Cyrus and bring him up here to the cell? I believe he's onto something."

/-\\-/-\

 **E/N-So, I see you survived my horrendously fluffy chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed it somewhat.**

 **Please review! I've been getting worried lately that nobody is reading any of my stories anymore, not just this one. If you want this story to keep going, then I need you to review, even if it's just a 'keep going'. I just need to know that someone is reading this. Because, if not, I do have two other stories that need my attention.**

 **I hate to be the kind of guy who threatens like that, but I need to know! So…**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review…. Please?**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N-** **I'm alive!**

 **This extra week or so of wait time was** _ **not**_ **planned. Mid-term studies and family visits inhibited progress, but I managed to push this out!**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

Monster: Chapter 6

 _N's Castle, Victory Road. Now._

"Now what?"

Arceus turned to face the Unovan dragon of darkness. "In what sense?" she asked.

Zekrom huffed. "What are we going to spend our time doing in this… palace?" He spoke as if he had several less desirable adjectives for the former villain's castle. "Reshiram's already resigned herself to moping around in N's room. Won't even talk to me."

Arceus blinked, unsure of who 'N' was. "What?"

Zekrom huffed again. "Never mind," he said, turning away. "I'll figure it out myself."

The Queen of Legendaries blinked once again as the electric dragon stomped out of the destroyed chamber. She wasn't surprised, needless to say, when a chuckle sounded behind her.

"Deja-vu-ish, wouldn't you say?"

Arceus resisted the urge to smile knowingly. At least _one_ of them had to be professional. Instead she turned around to glare at Giratina, who was sitting behind her in a manner that was quite regal. Not that she noticed things like that.

"If you have something of worth to say, then speak it," Arceus said in a tone she hoped sounded cold. "If not, there is no reason for you to be here."

Giratina chuckled and bowed formally. Strangely, the act seemed genuine, as Arceus couldn't find any traces of sarcasm in his actions. "Definitely," he said. "It's not like you called me here or anything."

Arceus froze, realizing her blunder. Groaning and closing her eyes, she sat down. "Just tell me what I need to know," she said. "Who is N?"

Giratina barked a laugh. "If only there was a contrite answer to that," he said. "Many names and things could be used to describe the human boy, but for our purposes, you need to know that he was the trainer who captured Reshiram two and a half years ago."

Arceus turned back to face her counterpart. "But she seems to be perfectly at ease here. So why is _Zekrom_ the one who's acting up?"

Giratina glanced at her, and a flicker of something passed over his serpentine face; before Arceus could decode it, he turned away. "Zekrom was captured by yet another trainer who was rivaling N," he said.

It connected for Arceus then. "Oh," she said. "I understand everything now." Her counterpart raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to comment, but she smacked him upside the head before he could.

"No comments," she said. "Even _I_ remember the old legends about those two. They already had two human rivals before; brothers."

Giratina nodded. "So when Zekrom finds himself in that position again…."

Arceus winced. "Yeah." Then she remembered yet another detail about the Unovan legend. "But... Zekrom won the first time. So why is _he_ worried? Why isn't Reshiram the one who's getting pessimistic and grumpy?"

Giratina sighed, and he sat down with a heavy _thump._ He looked at her tiredly. "Arceus," he said succinctly.

"Yes?"

"This is a matter that is far too complicated to explain right now. The history between the three, while not lengthy, has left more than one scar on the involved parties."

Arceus groaned again, leaning backwards, hoping to find a headrest. "Why are we all so full of drama?" she asked as she settled against something warm. "Why can't we just go about our daily lives without emotion?"

There was a small pause before Giratina responded from somewhere behind her. "As confusing as it is," he began in a somewhat quiet tone. "I believe the ability to feel defines us. It provides us with highs and lows, instead of consistency. Sure, the lows may be unbearable at times, but the highs can make up for it."

Arceus pondered the newest ingot of wisdom that came from her counterpart. _I guess there's_ some _layer of truth to that. But…_

"The lows can be devastating," she said, speaking her mind. "Sometimes the highs can't compensate."

Giratina chuckled in a manner that sounded resigned. "When you live a life of lows, a high is paradise," he said. "They don't kid when they say laughter is the best medicine."

Arceus snorted, leaning farther back against her headrest, still not turning around to face Giratina. "So you live off of humor?" she asked in disbelief. "This coming from the legend that was banished for violence."

Giratina chuckled again. "Humor value is an important factor in my life," he said. If Arceus didn't know any better, she could have sworn that the slightest inch of slyness had crept into his voice. "Want to hear an example?"

The Queen of All rolled her eyes. "I suppose so," she said tiredly. Giratina smirked.

"First, look at your shoulder."

Arceus rolled her eyes. "Is this one of those 'made you look' things?" she asked as her head turned. "Because I really am not in the mood for-." Arceus' voice faltered when she noticed what exactly was on her shoulder; a shadowy wing.

"Now get your head off my chest."

Arceus was all too happy to comply with her counterpart's request. The almighty Queen of Legends sprang to her feet, hoping the flush in her checks was concealed from view. Giratina laughed, and it took all of Arceus' willpower to not laugh with him.

"That's not funny," she protested indignantly, trying to force out the residual warmth that came from their contact.

Giratina laughed. "Quite the contrary," he said lightly. "It-."

" _HEY!"_

Both legends flinched. Giratina stomped over to the entrance of the Plasma throne room and ducked his head down through the doorway. Arceus stifled a chuckled at the image.

"Who is making that racket?" Giratina demanded, his voice muffled by the stone wall. After a second, the Distortion King turned back around. His expression was troubled, suspicious, and apprehensive all at once.

"What is it?" Arceus asked him, making her way down the walkway towards the door. Giratina glowered.

"It was Mew," he said darkly. "She was saying that a meeting is being called at the entrance of the castle."

Arceus straightened indignantly. "On whose authority?" she demanded. Giratina glanced up, wine colored irises dark with suspicion.

"According to Mew," Giratina said. "On _yours."_

/-\\-/-\

 _Plasma Frigate, Kyurem's prison. Now._

"Ugh…"

Darkrai began to stir, still half-asleep. He tried to float up, but something held onto his arm, trapping him in place. He didn't put up much of a fight, and settled back against the wall. Something warm shuffled against his side, and he tightened a grip he hadn't realized he'd had around the object.

Where was he again? And why was he feeling so warm?

He remembered going to Full Moon to see _why_ exactly Cresselia had challenged the usefulness of the creation Pokémon. _That_ had been amusing. But… something happened. Darkrai's half-awake brain couldn't recall what had happened. Whatever it was, it must have been good, because Darkrai felt warmer than he had in centuries. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to fall back asleep, even if he was inside Kyurem's old prison.

…

Darkrai's cyan eye snapped open, instantly alert.

 _Kyurem's prison._

The nightmare legend groaned, banging his head lightly against the glass wall. _Of course,_ he thought. _I wake up feeling all warm and giddy, but in reality I'm trapped in a prison with Miss Bite-My-Head-Off._

Darkrai's memory began to fire up, and the memories from previous day came back to him. Most prominent of them all were Cresselia's odd mood swings. She had been ready to bite his hand off one minute, and the next she refused to let him leave her side.

 _At least it didn't go anywhere. I need to get up._

As Darkrai began to float up, his arm jerked him back. Growling, he turned to yank the appendage free when both his sight and memory simultaneously reminded him of what had been grabbing onto it.

Cresselia.

His lunar counterpart was clutching his ebony appendage with a death grip, as if determined to tear it free from his shoulder. Rolling his eyes, he used his other hand and worked up a weak Dark Pulse. Pressing his clawed hand to Cresselia's paw, he let the Pulse flow into her.

During their countless moonlit battles prior to these events, Darkrai had found that a steady Dark Pulse would cause Cresselia to flinch. He hoped the flinch would be enough for her to subconsciously open her paw.

It began working almost immediately. He could feel the twitch in her individual digits, and he couldn't help but smile foxily. The smug smile faded when he looked again.

Cresselia's entire paw, and some of her forearm, had turned a smoky grey. As the Dark Pulse continued up her arm, the grey complex followed it, consuming her naturally vibrant pink fur.

With a panicked yelp, Darkrai shut the Pulse off. The grey stopped spreading instantly, but it did not recede. Cresselia remained asleep, still tightly gripping Darkrai's limb. Now her entire left paw and some of her shoulder and neck were completely grey. If Darkrai looked hard enough, he could see the wall through the grey.

Darkrai froze in place, not exactly sure what to do. _What happened?_ he wondered. _What is this?_

 _Whirr…. CLUNK!_

Darkrai tried to whirl around to face the sound, but Cresselia's grip only let him turn 90 degrees, so he was forced to glare out of the corner of his eye. Cresselia mumbled unhappily in her sleep, and she tightened her grip on her unwilling hostage.

In the open entrance of the prison stood the man with the tablet; Darkrai remembered him being called _Colress._ At his side hovered a Klingklang, its red center gear spinning madly, throwing off electric sparks.

"Greetings," said the human scientist formally, as if he were a guest and not a prisoner. "I see Cresselia has… bonded with you."

Darkrai hid his shock with a growl. " _No,"_ he muttered in the English human language. " _Go. Away."_

Colress glanced down at his tablet and tapped a few notes into it. "No?" he asked with no emotion. "You do not reciprocate? Or do you simply not realize?"

Darkrai said nothing. He only floated there, hoping he looked intimidating enough despite his arm being held captive by his own counterpart.

Colress took his silence as an answer, and he tapped on his tablet again. "I see," he said. "So it is obliviousness." Darkrai blinked, confused by the human's word choice. _Oblivious? About what?_

As if on cue, Cresselia tugged on Darkrai's arm unconsciously.

Colress smirked, the first sign of emotion showing. "Very well. Klingklang, retrieve Cresselia for me." As the Steel-type moved to obey, Darkrai growled.

Colress raised an eyebrow. "We have no need, for _you,_ Darkrai," said the Plasma scientist. "Only Cresselia. Resistance is futile."

 _They only wanted_ her? he realized. _I was never supposed to be here… I could just let him take her…_

Darkrai glanced down at his lunar counterpart. Although parts of her were still that odd grey color, she still had a serene smile on her face. Despite the chains digging into her wrists and rings, she breathed peacefully, almost like she wasn't trapped in a prison.

The way she slept… the way she held on to him like she never wanted to let go… despite the fact that she was asleep, Darkrai felt something go off inside him. It felt like protectiveness, but that made no sense. Why would he _ever_ want to protect his testy counterpart?

 _I don't know what the heck I'm doing,_ he thought. _I should just let Colress take her. That would be the cold, sensible thing to do. I'm cold, aren't I?_

Darkrai glanced down again, and he remembered the previous night. She had told him something, but he hadn't heard. He was too busy trying to figure out why he had felt so warm…

 _I don't want to be sensible,_ he decided. _I think I'd rather be warm than cold…_

Darkrai charged a Focus Blast in his free claw, silently giving the scientist his answer.

Colress shrugged, then tapped his tablet again. "Suit yourself. Klingklang, destroy them both."

/-\\-/-\

 _N's Castle; Now_

Giratina approached the final corner of the castle, nearing the entrance with Arceus in tow. Just before they rounded it, Giratina stopped.

"Don't show yourself," he said to Arceus. "I need to see what the heck is going on. If it's an impersonator, I need to be the one to disprove it. Not you."

Arceus pushed against him indignantly. "Why?" she asked testily.

"Because having you there would give the impersonator a chance to recognize your personality and be a better fake. If _I_ go up there, however, the phony will have _no_ idea what to expect."

Arceus narrowed her eyes. "What are you up to?"

Giratina smirked. "Let's just say there's a reason my species is named 'Renegade'." Without letting the Queen of Legends protest, Giratina rounded the corner. Color immediately assaulted his eyes as he saw the amassed group of legendaries. Light, nervous chatter flowed over the long hallway.

Standing over in the doorway to the castle was Arceus; or at least the thing that _looked_ like Arceus. This Arceus radiated a superiority that the real one did not. The actual Arceus was… different. There was no leader-like gleam to her eyes. There was no aura of power that seemed to radiate from her. The real Arceus- _his_ Arceus-had flaws. And that was something most mortals, human and Pokémon alike, did not realize.

If anything, the flaws Arceus had were the things that made her the most divine. It made her relatable… _likeable_ even, at times. Glancing back quickly, Giratina saw that Arceus was peeking her head around the corner. He kept staring at her until she caught his gaze, and she scoffed under breath before ducking back under cover. Giratina couldn't help but smile, in spite of himself. _No one impersonates that,_ he thought. _There can only be one of_ those _in the universe._

 _Thankfully, I suppose._

"Hey, there!"

Suddenly, Mew appeared in front of Giratina with a flash, a small grin spread across her tiny mouth. Giratina wiped the smile off his face immediately, to have it replaced by a frown. He had been certain that all of this was a prank from Mew, given her ability to shapeshift. If _she_ wasn't the imposter… then who was?

"Mew," he said darkly, drawing the ancestral cat's attention immediately. "I am going to speak with Arceus. I want you to go around silently and tell everyone except Arceus that I want absolute silence. No matter what I say or do, I need silence."

Mew paused, mulling it over. "So… you want us to act like whatever you're going to do is normal?"

"Yes."

Mew put her small paws on her hips. "What _are_ you going to do?"

Giratina turned away. "Tell them to stay quiet, or they get 1000 years in the Distortion with solitary confinement."

Mew blinked, before disappearing in another flash. Smirking, Giratina pushed his way through the crowd towards the impostor. A hush fell over the amassed legends as he passed, no doubt having already gotten Mew's message. The twisted little cat had a way with spreading rumors quickly. Or imprisonment threats.

Arceus turned towards him critically, emerald eyes possessing a sharpened gleam to them.

"What do you need, Giratina?" she asked coldly, taking a step forward. "I am about to address the Council."

Giratina took a breath. _Here we go._ The Renegade glanced up at Arceus, glaring at her fiercely.

"I'm removing you from power, Arceus," he said with a chill colder than Kyurem's entrails. "Your unjust rule will come to an end."

Dead silence. All eyes were on the two counterparts. Palkia turned as if to leave, but Dialga pulled him back.

As expected, the false Arceus' body began to shine brightly, evidently charging an attack. "Retract your threat, and I just might let you live," she said darkly. Giratina laughed out of honest glee.

 _She is_ nothing _like the actual Arceus. 'I just might let you live?' Please. She would just huff in annoyance._

"You think I fear death?" he asked. "I have seen horrors far worse than you. Kill, me, if you think it will do anything."

The white light surrounding 'Arceus' intensified. "Last chance," she snarled. "Or the last thing you see in this world will be my Judgment."

Giratina smirked. "Good thing there's more than one world, then," he said haughtily.

Arceus roared. "Judgment!" The light exploded from the top of her head, sending shockwaves outwards. The light rushed towards Giratina…

… and it passed right by him.

Yet another silence. Legendaries were glancing at each other, wondering how Giratina had avoided being hit. Giratina opened his mouth, ready to accuse, but someone beat him to the punch.

"He's here!"

All heads whirled around to face Reshiram, who held an odd gleam in her icicle eyes. She glanced at the legends surrounding her, as if they should have known what the heck she was talking about.

Reshiram turned her head to 'Arceus'. "Isn't he?"

The imposter sighed, glancing at Giratina. "I apologize for this," she said. "He just likes to test the waters first, is all." Giratina blinked, unsure of what the heck was going on.

Then, Arceus was enveloped in a soft pink light. When it faded, the false form of the goddess no longer stood before him. Something much smaller was crouching at his feet instead. Giratina recognized it; it was one of the few Unovan Pokémon he had bothered to memorize.

"You're a Zoroark."

As the Dark-Type nodded, Reshiram pushed her way forward so she stood next to the smaller creature. "Where?" she asked, desperation creeping into her voice, but barely noticeable.

"Hello, everyone."

All heads turned to the entrance of the castle. A human boy, dressed in simple white clothes, stood at the door. A yellow puzzle cube hung by his belt, and his long green hair that much resembled Zoroark's spilled out from under his black cap. He bowed before Giratina, before taking a few steps towards Reshiram.

The Being of Truth knelt down, ducking her head so the man could stroke it gently.

"Reshiram," said N. "You have come home."

 **E/N- This is going to get very interesting soon… What does N know? Why did he appear? What's happening to Cresselia? How can she** _ **possibly**_ **keep that strong a grip on Darkrai's arm? All questions that will be answered.**

 **Some of you may be wondering why I'm including the other legendaries in this story, instead of maintaining a single line with Darkrai and Cresselia.**

 **Mostly, Giratina and Arceus' little chats are for people who** _ **haven't**_ **played BW/BW2. Because if you haven't, you probably had no idea who 'N' was, or any of the history he had with Reshiram. I felt like there should have been a little transparency.**

 **I am sorely sorry once again for the wait time, but I hope you enjoyed this somewhat.**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review…**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


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